Salman Khan to buy IPL Team

MUMBAI: After Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty, now actor Salman Khan is eyeing ownership of an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team.

The actor, who has been in informal talks with IPL chairman Lalit Modi for a few months now, officially met Modi today at a suburban Mumbai hotel.

According to Modi, two new team franchises will be added to the existing eight IPL teams in 2011. The auctions for the same will begin early next year. Khan is interested in buying a new team rather than invest in an existing one.

Khan discussed the nitty-gritties of what it takes to own an IPL team, the timelines, procedures and investment required for it. Khan was also interested in knowing the cities that were available for ownership.

According to Modi, the price tag attached to a new IPL team would be in the region of $200 - 300 million. It may be recalled that Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra shelled out close to $15 million for a 12 per cent stake in Rajasthan Royals.

While Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla own Kolkata Knight Rider, Preity Zinta has a stake in Kings XII Punjab along with Ness Wadia. Prominent businessmen who are owners of IPL teams are Vijay Mallya and Mukesh Ambani.

While it remains to be seen whether Salman Khan's deal goes through or not, the stakes are definitely much higher now than before.